UKREiiF 2025: rising market confidence signals opportunity – but headwinds remain

In May, the UK’s largest real estate and infrastructure event – UKREiiF – returned to Leeds with record attendance, bringing together thousands of professionals from across the property lifecycle.

Over three packed days, three of our partners attended on behalf of Vail Williams, meeting with more than 400 people – including investors, consultants, contractors, occupiers, strategic partners and public sector leaders.

As trusted advisers immersed in the commercial, residential and operational property market, our aim was clear: to engage with emerging trends with a view to continuing to help our clients make sense of a shifting economic and political landscape.

Here are some of the standout themes and insights we took away from UKREiiF 2025.

Market confidence on the rise 

A strong theme throughout the conference was a marked improvement in property market sentiment – a trend supported by the findings of the UK Real Estate Market Sentiment Survey 2025, published by UKREiiF in partnership with Holistic Insight.

According to the survey:

• Positive outlooks have risen sharply – up from 52% to 70% year-on-year.
• Negative sentiment has fallen steeply, from 17% to just 6%.

This upturn is being felt across all UK regions, with notable growth in confidence in the South East, Scotland, South West, and Wales. London, the North West and Yorkshire also saw significant improvements. Indeed, this optimism was reflected in our conversations with developers, consultants, architects, and contractors.

There’s growing assurance on both the advisory and delivery sides of the market – a crucial signal for those considering new investment or development activity.  The market will have road bumps explored below.

Caution persists: Challenges still in play 

Despite the uplift in sentiment, we are aware that underlying challenges continue to weigh on property decision-making, which will no doubt remain front of mind for those shaping and delivering projects.

Issues include:

• Geopolitical instability
• Inflation and construction costs
• Financing constraints
• Ongoing complexity in the UK planning system

Positivity across the value chain 

Another clear trend from our UKREiiF conversations was the breadth of optimism across the property ecosystem – from C-suite leaders to consultants, asset managers and contractors.

This widespread sentiment suggests that confidence in market fundamentals is firming, which in turn bodes well for leasing activity, capital deployment and project starts in the months ahead, including the major New Hospital Programme (NHP).

Vail Williams, together with a range of strategic partners, is working closely with AtkinsRéalis on NHP which is a UK government initiative focused on rebuilding or refurbishing hospitals across England.

As the year progresses, we are noticing a marked uptick in both transactional and strategic advisory work – particularly from clients seeking to seize opportunities, while remaining mindful of emerging risks.  This does, however, need to be kept in focus with significant changes looming as a result of Local Government Reorganisation, Mayoral and local elections by 2027, and the inevitable period of organisational change that will ensue.

Regional nuance still matters 

While the national property outlook is improving, regional disparities remain key to strategy.

Survey data highlighted that the South East and North East recorded the steepest declines in negative sentiment – an important factor for investors and occupiers evaluating future location decisions.

For clients, our advice is clear: revisit your asset and location strategies to ensure they’re aligned with the latest confidence indicators and market dynamics.  We can see super schemes reaching site post-planning with Kier Construction, Morgan Sindall, Wates and Willmott Dixon – all with the public sector.

Turning a corner  

UKREiiF 2025 signalled what many in the market had been hoping for: that we are finally turning a corner.

Confidence is growing – but it’s grounded in realism. Challenges are still present, and navigating them will require agility, insight and collaboration.

At Vail Williams, we’re here to help you make sense of the evolving property landscape. Whether you’re acquiring, developing, funding or occupying property, our message is simple: Opportunity is returning. So, let’s make it count.